Before the series started, there were some articles and press releases that mentioned hunters using a Visa "security feature" (presumably the CVV2) to solve a puzzle. Haven't seen it yet. The cryptex (no such critter in real life, btw; the cryptex is an invention of author Dan Brown) seen on the show looks like it's just alphabet rings--no numbers.

NBC must have written TH off All day today not a single promo for TH tomorrow night; all the promos during NASCAR Brickyard 400 and Sunday Night Football were for shows starting in September except a few for Last Comic Standing this Tuesday. Oh hum, I guess even the suits at NBC are tired of this sorry mess of a show.

BURBANK – August 14, 2006 – This summer, ten teams searched the globe on a wild ride to find a hidden treasure. For the final three teams, Air Force, Geniuses and the Southie Boys, their hunt will finally reach its thrilling conclusion as one team unlocks the final puzzle, and the worth of the treasure will be revealed live from Washington, D.C. on Monday, August 21 from 9-10 p.m. on NBC.

All 30 cast members will be reunited for the first time since they began their hunt, with Laird Macintosh hosting the finale.

Hi everybody, frequent reader but seldom poster here. I haven't been on the boards much since the Survivor/AR finalies and thought I'd stop in to see if you all were following Treasure Hunters. I seem to be in a minority. I loved both the TV and online game. I've checked out the TH boards at NBC the past couple months and 5 of the 10, $10,000 online game winners that will compete for $100,000 were from the NBC board. Had hoped to find a couple more of the winners from this site. Hope you all have had a great summer and look forward to reading the boards again for S/AR.

So, tomorrow night at nine we will have the finale LIVE from the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. Building is closed to the public at 5:00PM.

BUT, there is that word again, we last saw the three final teams at the Lee works in Baltimore and this was on tape with the title "to be continued". So do we actuallly start off LIVE in the vault of the Lee works? Or do we actually start on tape which was recorded last September? If live, lots of luck since it would take over an hour to drive from Baltimore Harbour to Washington DC.

And if last week were any indication, it would take much more than an hour to drive the 37 miles. Last week we started off at the B&B in Philadelphia, PA and we were told that it was "the morning of the final day". Now morning could be anytime before noon. Then we have them drive the 137 miles to the Library of Congress in Washington DC. This would take at best 2.5 hours. But we see them arrive at the Library after it closes at 9:00PM and well into the night. So leaving at noon it takes the three teams about nine hours to get to the Library?? What did they do travel by the way of New York?

Anyway before they leave the teams are told by our mystery host that "tonight one of you will find the treasure". Yeah, sure. So by the saying "tonight" TPTB reallly mean "tomorrow"

I'm waiting with bated breath to see how they can resume the quest for the final key LIVE in Baltimore and still be LIVE in Washington DC at nine PM.

Do they recreate the vault at the Lee factory in the set in The National Building Museum a la Survivor? Watch closely to see if all the clothing and beards and haircuts match from 10 months ago.

Here is what I think will happen tomorrow night. I think the live finale will be similar to the Survivor live finale with all the eliminated teams brought back. I think the end game is already in the can, edited for our veiwing pleasure. The 10 online game winners will be shown competing for the $100,000. This is already taped also since they flew the 10 to DC about a week ago Just my opinion though Ask me in 24 hrs. and I'll have a better idea

The survivor-style reunion sounds right. And the egyptian-chamber end game, as you said, is already in the can. The interesting part will be the hunt by the online contestants. If it's really live, as the NBC page claims, I'd like to see them pull it off: live tv is always a gamble.

If I remember correctly, the first several Survivor finales, were recreated with the same set with the same two finalists and jury waiting for the final count to be made so that it was not until you heard the audience screem did the cameras pull back to show that the set had been recreated exactly as seen several months before. But it became patently obvious that this couldn't happen so it was changed so that Jeff was seen going off with the ballots and the audience was told that they would be counted live in the studio in four or five months time.

So do we have the same kind of fiction here which Survivor did away with year ago?

Or do we have another case of "live on tape" tonight? Which seems more practical and workable than starting "live" in Baltimore and finishing "live" in Washington DC.

WOW - it was live. Yeah, for a total of 15 minutes and 41 seconds! All of the action for both the Treasrure Hunters and the home folk were on tape.

And really 3 million dollars? Read the fine print: "The 3 million dollars is payable as an annuity of monthly payments over 25 YEARS! That's right no one million in hand now, but rather only $3,333 a month for the next 25 years!!! Not bad but not a million bucks for each player in hand now.

Or you could take the present cash value which is usually 58% of the total, or in this case $580,000 for each player, which after taxes would be abcout $340,000. Not bad, but not a million bucks in hand.

Was that a collective sigh of relief I heard echoing through the night? This dog of a show was finally put to rest. Never to be seen again.

Now we can concentrate on the real reality show - the Amazing Race.

Be sure to root for the favorite to win a fourth EMMY this coming Sunday on the channel that brought this lack luster excuse of a show.

And so, a good good night to one and all. See you next on the TAR board.

I was right about the annuities it seems, but I overestimated the amount. The finale (a post about the rehearsals here) was OK, but not great: I was a little disappointed because the last few weeks it seemed the producers and editors were finally getting their act together.And the show in general? It surpassed TAR in a couple of areas (photography and clues, for example) but trailed in most others. It showed promise but I don't think it will be renewed. NBC has brought back other Magical Elves productions from dormancy (last comic standing), but travel-adventure shows like TAR and TH are expensive to produce, so I'm doubtful.

One last comment before it all gets archived. The "Key Industries" plant was bugging me because it didn't match the silo stack mentioned by most posters--Lehigh Cement (right across the harbor from Fort Mchenry; in the picture here, you can even see the fort flag lower-left). The actual spot turned out to be a little east of Lehigh (here).